Musica Antiqua Köln

Musica Antiqua Köln was founded in 1973 by Reinhard Goebel,
with fellow musicians from Köln Conservatory.

Born in Siegen in Westphalia, Germany, on 31 July 1952, Reinhard
Goebel began to study the violin at the age of twelve. At seventeen,
he entered into the violin class of Franzjosef Maier, a member of
Collegium Aureum, at Köln Conservatory. He followed
his studies in Essen under the direction of Saschko Gawriloff, a
musician specialized in contemporary music, and in the Low Countries
under Marie Leonhardt, who trained him on the Baroque violin. His
immense knowledge of Baroque music and culture was built during
his musicological studies at Cologne University. However, in an
interview for a Spanish magazine, he considers himself "merely
a craftsman whose aim is to give an optimum performance of chamber
music composed for stringed instruments between 1600 and 1750."

The very distinctive style of Musica Antiqua Köln is clear
since its first recordings: fast tempi, avoidance of vibrato,
strong dynamic accents on the main beats and the messa di voce
which has been a model for many Baroque ensembles. In a recent
interview for the French magazine Diapason, Goebel says that
his German playing technique is based on Quantz and Pisendel, his
ensemble searching for an intense and male sound in which the
rhythmic impact of articulations express the common desire of his
musicians for perfection, this associated with the search for
absolute tuning and the use of the right instruments.

The career of the group can be divided into four generations,
with some overlapping. The first generation of Musica Antiqua
Köln was a chamber group, with a strong bias toward German
and French music. Bach's Musical Offering and Chamber
Music records, and French Baroque Concerts are highlights
of that time. The second generation was formed around an orchestra
at the beginning of the eighties. Telemann's Wassermusik,
Bach's Ouvertures and Brandenburg Concertos are among
the best. The third generation was mainly an orchestra centered
on Dresden orchestral repertory, and according to Reinhard Goebel
himself, it happened because he could not play due to the laming
of his left hand after recording Biber's Mystery Sonatas.
The two Heinichen recordings have made a great stir in the small
Baroque world and beyond. After ten or so years playing as a
left-handed player, "the best second violinist in the world,"
Goebel played right-handed again, and recorded Biber's
Harmonia-artificioso ariosa and Telemann's Flute quartets
as a soloist, among a few others. However, according to a note
published by the group at the beginning of May 2006, his left hand
was injured again and forced him to abandon the violin forever.
Musica Antiqua Köln will be dissolved by the end of this year,
and Reinhard Goebel will concentrate his efforts to conduct
"modern" orchestras.

The following list was originally developed by Maurizio Frigeni,
who has listed all the recordings sorted by release date and with
links to detailed contents files. Only original recordings are
taken into account here, but in the accompanying file he has usually
given some indications about reissues. I have been undertaken a
revision since 2004.